Take it Back!
by Valkyrie Shepherd
Summary: Garrus is evacuated to the Normandy when he is wounded charging the Citadel's beam, but no way is he, or anyone else, going to let Shepard go on alone!


**Author note: Though Bioware was kind enough to listen to our whining (founded as it was) and give us the "extended cut" DLC, there are still big gaps in the logic and still no satasfying ending for me. So, taking some of the scenes from the "extended cut" I wrote my own! Hopefully this willhelp others like myself feel better about the ending of a pretty awesome game, and more importantly the ending of some very important characters as well as the whole, "what about Harbinger" issue.

This does have Garrus/Femshep. Also, there is no Kaiden or Ashley, as well as no James. For some reason I picture them still being on earth, fighting away. They're not dead, they're just not in the story. Hopefully you will still enjoy it!

Extended Cut

Pain. Heat. Smoke. Garrus coughed and gasped, vaguely attempting to slap out the fire that licked his skin. Fuel from the downed Mako that had almost struck himself and Tali had splashed all over his armor and he was now, quite literally, on fire. One moment he had been charging the beam to the Citadel along side his two female companions, the next thing he knew he was on his ass with his armor on ablaze.

Tali reached him first. He was able to see through the smoke well enough to know that her suit was ruptured in several places. Still, she was moving easily and he guessed her injuries were minor. But where was...? Familiar hands reached him then, and even through the smell of blood and choking air he could tell who she was by scent. Shepard slung his arm over her shoulder and with Tali's help, dragged him to cover. "How bad is it?" She asked, hastily checking her two friends.

Tali answered first, "I have several serious suit ruptures, but only a few actual wounds. None of them bad."

Garrus didn't answer. The pain in his right leg was intense and he didn't dare even glance at the limb. Sure he'd had worse, but it was admittedly difficult to feel anything worse than having half your face blown off. He gritted his teeth and gave Shepard a nod, which he intended to mean that he was still ready to fight. She was looking around now. He found himself oddly captured by the image of her, kneeling at his side, but so upright, checking the layout of the battlefield. The light of the Reaper beam glinted and shone off of her armor. She looked like some kind of warrior angel. Wasn't that was Thane had once called her? He smiled faintly.

She was speaking loudly into her comm, but the explosions and yelling all around them made it impossible to hear what she was saying. Nearby a rachni took down three husks that had managed to get past the weapons fire and were heading for where some humans were covering. Once Shepard had finished, she crouched closer to him, almost shielding him with her body. "It's alright Garrus, I've got you." When had he heard those words before? When she had held him, bleeding and broken, on Omega. His leg must be pretty bad.

And then the Normandy was there. Joker had some kind of balls flying Shepard's beloved ship so close to Harbinger. It took his befuddled mind several moments to realized that his commander must have ordered the ship to come. She planned to evac him.

"Come on!" the order sounded in his ear and Garrus didn't have much choice but let Shepard support him towards the ship's open bay door. He saw Tali keeping up out of the corner of his eye.

Some of the Normandy's crew came out to meet them, guns ablazing, though what they intended to shoot he wasn't sure. It seemed a straight run to the beam with few foes in their way, other than Harbinger, which squatted menacingly behind the beam, aiming it's devastating weapon with surprising precision. Around him people rushed to pull the other wounded towards the ship and replace them with fresh troops. At least this wasn't all on his account, Garrus thought hazily.

"Here, take him," Shepard ordered Tali, and Garrus realized what was happening. His previously pain-fogged mind snapped awake to crystal clarity as his commander pulled his arm from her shoulders and put it over Tali's.

"Shepard!" he snarled, forcing himself and his quarian friend to turn and face the woman below them on the gangplank.

"You gotta get out of here!" she said urgently.

"And you gotta be kidding me!" Garrus tried to struggle free of Tali's grip, and she didn't fight him. He knew the quarian felt the same way about the order they had just been given. No way they were leaving!

"I won't argue with you Garrus," she said firmly, meeting his small, bright eyes with her own deep brown ones. He tried to memorize her face in that moment. The light of battle shining on her tanned skin. Her dark hair starting to fall free of it's bun. Wasn't it only a night before that he had run his fingers through that hair? She was striding towards him then, wearing the determined look he had come to know so well. Come to love so well.

"We're in this till the end!" he said, unable to hide the pain in his voice, but willing to ignore any agony not to leave her side.

"No matter what happens here," she had reached him and her voice was shaking. There were tears in her eyes. "You know I love you. I always will." She touched his face. The way she always did, her fingertips tracing his scars as though she wanted to read them like braille. She seemed to feel as he did, that need to memorize something of him.

"Shepard I..." She intended to die. He knew that now. He knew why she and Thane had shared a special friendship. He had always suspected, but now he understood and it had taken all-out war to make him see it. She was headed for death and she went willingly. For the good of the galaxy. A million words flooded his mind. A million reasons she should stay, or that he should go with her, but all that passed his lips was all he really needed to say. "I love you too." He held on to her hand as she moved away, and even when she gently pulled free of his grasp he reached towards her. _I love you, I love you, I love you!_ He wanted to shout. Those words didn't even seem like enough for what he felt for her.

She smiled at him, the way she always did when she was truly, wholeheartedly happy. Then she turned to look at Harbinger, as though only then recalling that the Reaper was there. She turned back to him and Tali, her eyes once again full of pain. "GO!" she shouted.

Garrus heard Tali let out a sob as the gang plank began to rise. Garrus didn't lower his arm. He reached towards Shepard even as she vanished from his view and he was standing in the cargo bay, surrounded by wounded soldiers.

"Hold on kids, this might get bumpy," Joker's voice piped over the comm. He'd been half hiding the Normandy behind a large pile of debris, but as he lifted off Harbinger would have a clean shot.

Joker was the best for a reason. Two shots glanced off of the Normandy's hull. Had it had not been for their upgraded hull plating, one blast would have sliced the elegant ship open. Instead Joker was able to maneuver her about and zip away. Garrus half expected Harbinger to follow them, but it didn't.

Dr Chakwas was there with several nurses. One of the injured salarians they had picked up was also a medic and he too began helping, ignoring his own injuries. Chakwas personally rushed to Garrus and Tali's aid. "Let me see," she ordered.

"Tali's worse. Suit ruptures," Garrus managed to say between his teeth. His jaw was tight and his mandibles clamped to the sides of his face with the pain.

"I'm fine," Tali protested fiercely as a nurse rushed over with a special suit sealant compound.

"Your leg's bad, Garrus," said Chakwas, helping the turian to sit down on the floor.

"Just patch me up. I've got to get back out there," the turian Snarled.

"You can't, Garrus. We're clear of the field. We're evacing the wounded," explained Chakwas soothingly as she gave him a shot of medigel and began applying some to his leg.

Garrus sat still for a moment, allowing the doctor to finish the bare-bones treatment. As soon as his leg was bound in white bandage, already stained blue and orange by his blood and the medigel, he stood up. It took effort, and it hurt like hell, but he was standing under his own power again. Tali too shrugged off her medic and limped over to him, awaiting his instructions.

"Garrus, sit back down, you have burns all over your arms and chest!" Chakwas scolded.

With a few practiced motions Garrus unclipped his upper torso armor and let it fall to the floor. His black, skin tight under-armor was singed, and he smelled his own burned flesh, but he didn't care. "I'm going to the bridge. Follow me if you have to doc," he said, and began to walk.

Tali went too, and after a moment she slid her slender shoulder under his arm and helped him along, so the going was faster. Then someone much taller was supporting his other side. A krogan. It took him a moment to recognize the muscular soldier under all the blood and grime, but the blue eyes stood out clear. "Grunt?"

"Damn humans will evac anyone," the krogan grumbled, though he was clearly limping severely himself, he still supported Garrus as though the turian weighed nothing. "I told them that krogan go on fighting with much worse, but would they listen?"

"Grunt, half your foot is missing!" Tali observed urgently.

"That's hardly anything. Now if my whole leg got blown off maybe then I'd let 'em evac me without a fight."

Garrus glanced back at the harried looking medics who had been trying to patch up the young krogan warrior. They almost looked pleased that he was limping away from them. Soon the trio was in the Normandy's elevator, but before the doors could close, Chakwas rushed in as well. "I can't let you three wander the ship alone as wounded as you are. I'll look bad," she gave them a smile.

The odd group soon reached the command center and headed for Joker's section of the bridge, forward of the galaxy map, which at the moment blinked with images of the fighting on earth. "Someone's reached the beam," Garrus overheard and he felt his heart skip a beat. It was Shepard. It had to be Shepard.

Joker was in his usual seat, with Edi to his right, both working together skillfully at the controls. Liara was there as well, having been picked up earlier from another part of the planet. She was seemingly unscathed. She stood behind Joker's shoulder, watching quietly, but she let out a gasp at the quarian the turian and the krogan limped into view. Joker swiveled his chair to study the strange group. "This looks like the beginning of a really bad joke," the pilot snorted, but his expression softened when he saw how beat up the threesome were. He must have sensed that they wouldn't be on the bridge in this condition unless it was really important. Still, he never seemed quite able to resist a jab or two. "Try not to bleed on anything important. What brings you up here?" he had turned his chair back and was operating the controls again.

"Shepard," Garrus said. The word made his heart sting, far more than his burns.

Joker's shoulders tightened, "what about her?" the pilot asked quietly. Garrus could tell the human was trying to hide the emotion in his voice.

"She made it to the Citadel. She's going to open the arms and activate the Crucible. We're going to evac her when she's done." Garrus' tone was even, logical. As though he were not asking the near impossible of the pilot.

"Garrus, I have orders," Joker said, even as he dodged reaper fire and fired back as good as he got.

"To hell with our orders. We have to get Shepard." the turian growled.

Garrus could feel the tension in that little room. It was like standing on the blade of a knife. You could fall either way, or try to walk along the blade and suffer the consequences. Liara spoke, very low and pained. "We can't, Jeff. We have our place out here. We have to follow our orders."

Joker still didn't answer. His muscles were tight and Garrus saw the pilot's fingers almost fumble across the controls. One wrong move and they could all end up Reaper fodder. Garrus felt his mandibles open. He was about to make an impassioned plea, when Joker finally spoke. "She's my sister." he said. "We're not related by blood, but she'd still my sister. The rest of my family was killed by the Reapes. I can' let that happen to her."

"She's my sister too," said Tali.

"My teacher," EDI spoke for the first time. Her metallic eyes glinted with a deadly ferocity. She wasn't using cold, robotic logic this time.

"She's my daughter," said Chakwas.

"My best friend," said Liara.

"My mother," Grunt spoke loudly and clearly enough for those back in the command center to hear him.

"My love," said Garrus.

There was a pause, uncertainty still hovering in the air. "She came for us," Tali's voice was quiet, but in the stillness of the bridge it was clear. "She always came for us, no matter where we were. No matter how much trouble we were in, she always found us, no matter what."

Joker said nothing more, but piloted the Normandy towards earth and the citadel once more. The arms of the Citadel were opening and the Crucible was moving to dock as the nimble, little ship flew up beside them. The comm buzzed with confusion: "Normandy! You're way out of position! Get back to position, Normandy! Normandy, respond!"

Joker ignored it all.

In fact, no one on the bridge was speaking. Garrus slumped back against a bulkhead and Chakwas stood beside him, seeing to the rest of his injuries. "Where do I dock?" Joker asked at last, bring the ship as near as he could to the point where the Citadel met the Crucible.

"I..." Garrus realized everyone was looking to him. He had no idea. Where would she be? Where would she go? He stood forward to squint through the ship's windows. "I..."

Suddenly a huge shape hove into view. Harbinger. It had remained near earth and apparently was eager for a rematch with the little ship. "Oh shit," Joker breathed, looking up at the monster that loomed before them.

"Jeff?" Even EDI's voice sounded frightened.

"We gotta go," Joker managed to choke, already punching in controls.

"No!" Garrus said, spreading his mandibles to show off his deadly sharp teeth. "Not this time! WE TAKE IT DOWN!"

Garrus had expected opposition. An outcry from the crew, not wanting to be slaughtered by the Reaper. Instead a cheer went up from the command center. "Yeah!" "Come on!" "Let's get that son of a bitch!" "We'll teach it to mess with earth!"

"I'm on the main gun!" Garrus moved into the station with no argument from EDI.

Tali moved to another control panel, eyes bright behind the helmet. "I'll see what the engines can give us."

"I'm heading back to the medbay. I'm sure I'll be needed," said Chakwas with a grim smile.

Liara and Grunt, not having specific duties, stepped back and awaited any way they could be helpful as Normandy swung in for their first attack. Harbinger blasted with its beam, but as the much smaller ship drew closer the massive mutation's aim was severely hampered. Normandy zipped in and out like a bee, stinging where it could. The beam caught them in a few glancing blows that rocked the ship and caused several consoles to explode, but nothing serious enough to hamper them.

Garrus fired the main gun again, feeling a rush of satisfaction as he landed a clean hit to the Reaper's underbelly and saw explosions etch their way across the monstrosity's outer hull. The upgrades to the ship's weapons before the suicide mission were coming in handy again. He glanced at Joker, whose hands moved so quickly they almost looked like a blur. It was as though Joker were possessed by every pilot who ever flew. His mastery of his job had never been clearer as he fairly danced the nimble Normandy around the Reaper's flailing limbs.

Again and again Garrus fired, as Tali coaxed every ounce of power from the engines for Joker. The Reaper was weakening and they could see it. It's attacks became even slower and clumsy. Still, it would never surrender. Their comm was vibrating with the creature's booming voice as it attempted to intimidate them. "THIS IS FUTILE! YOU CANNOT SUCCEED! WHERE I FALL THOUSANDS WILL RISE UP AND STRIKE YOU DOWN!"

Garrus smiled, thinking of Shepard, and knowing full well what she would say in this situation. His hands glided across the controls one more time as Joker lined him up for a perfect shot. "Fuck you!" the turian snarled out the human curse as he imaged his heroic lover standing beside him wearing an approving smile.

Explosions rocked Harbinger and it fell back, pulled by the earth's gravity and unable to resist. Garrus landed a few more shots than were unnecessary. Harbinger was falling, flailing its legs impotently, its beam no longer firing.

Joker didn't skip a beat. He guided the Normandy back towards the Citadel. This time he seemed to have decided where to park, bringing the ship in to line up with an old fueling port. He managed to coax the ship to dock, even though the port was damaged, then stood up. "Let's go."

Garrus watched the pilot limp towards the doors, followed by EDI and the rest of their group. He went last, already wondering how they would find her. Shepard. What if she was dead? No. She couldn't be dead. He couldn't allow himself to think that. She had made it this far. She _was_ alive. He drew his gun. Anyone who got in between him and his love would not be alive for long.

The citadel was nothing like he had seen before. Piles of bodies, being sorted and stacked by the Keepers, who ignored the small party that was moving down the darkened hallways. The smell was terrible and Garrus envied Tali her helmet, which filtered out unpleasant odors. Grunt made an annoyed sound as he nudged a body with his uninjured foot. "Which way?"

Garrus paused, looking around uneasily. How was he going to find her? Then he smelled it. Mingled with the odor of blood and charred flesh he smelled her. That musky, human scent he had memorized so well all those nights together. No two creatures in the galaxy smelled alike, and she was no exception. Garrus strode confidently forward, followed by his baffled, but trusting companions.

It only took them a few moments to find the room where the Illusive Man lay dead. Anderson too had fallen, though he was propped in a sitting position, as though someone had attempted to care for him. "Shepard," Garrus spoke her name, as he knew that she had been the one to sit beside Anderson. Her blood was there. "Still warm," he knelt and touched the blood. His gloves, which kept his talons from harming anyone who wanted to shake his hand, were thin enough for him to determine temperatures. A necessity when you needed to know at a moment's notice if your rifle was about to overheat.

The group spread out, looking for where Shepard must have gone. The drops of her blood lead to an odd, rectangular dip in the floor and stopped. Liara moved to the control panel beyond the dip, flicking a few buttons, eyes narrowed. Garrus had to dodge out of the way as a lift came down to nestle into the rectangle. The lift was covered in Shepard's blood. "Well done," Tali congratulated Liara.

The Shadow Broker smiled, "I've gotten quite good at hacking into places where people don't want me. Up you go."

"You're not coming?" Garrus asked worriedly as the others moved to stand uneasily on the rectangle.

"Someone has to operate this thing. It's fighting me too. I think there might be a VI involved here. It keeps changing its codes. I've got this. Just keep me on the comm and find Shepard." With that the asari returned her attention to the panel and soon the group was moving upward, standing together in the middle of the platform.

Garrus had his weapon at the ready as the platform reached its destination, but he almost dropped it when he saw her. "Shepard!" he practically yelled.

There she was, standing slightly hunched, bleeding all over the place, but still alive and upright. Garrus's guard was back up in the same second as he saw that she was with someone. A small, glowing someone. The VI Liara had mentioned?

Shepard turned, her eyes wide with surprise, "Garrus? Joker, Tali, Grunt!" The joy in her voice was impossible to miss.

Garrus marched forward to support Shepard, who sagged slightly in his arms. "We're here. No way we would leave you behind."

"No." the VI spoke. It had the appearance of a child, but its voice had a menacing edge. "No. They cannot be here. They must go."

"These are my friends," said Shepard firmly as the others came forward and stood beside her, all looking uncertainly at the glowing child. "Everyone, this is the Catalyst." she gestured vaguely in the direction of the VI.

"But I thought the-" Joker began.

"Was the Citadel?" Shepard finished, leaning willingly against Garrus as Tali moved forward with some Medigel to tend to her commander's many wounds. Shepard gave them all a very quick rundown of what had happened and what the child had told her thus far. The child itself seemed to be having some sort of internal glitch and kept flickering angrily as though unsure what to do. It did not stop Shepard's explanation, however.

EDI spoke first when Shepard had finished. She had been watching the child with a look of fascination. "Not a VI as we suspected. An AI. One that has fallen into the trap that I once did. That many AI do. The foolish notion that organics must be destroyed."

"Organics will always fight synthetics," snapped the Catalyst.

"Always?" Shepard asked. Garrus didn't like how strained her voice sounded. "EDI is a synthetic, and she is my friend."

"Without Commander Shepard I would not be an individual," said EDI in her usual earnest tone. "Without organics I would not be who I am. I would not be at all."

"You are foolish if you think peace will last," the child said coldly. "You will always turn on one another."

"No," Tali said, her eyes flashing behind her visor as she turned from ministering to Shepard's injuries. "The geth and the quarians were at war, but we came to an understanding. There were mistakes on both sides, but our war is over."

"It will not last," the child asserted, but it's voice sounded more urgent, as though it was running out of ideas. "You must choose," it had turned to meet Shepard's gaze again. "You must."

Garrus looked around him at the three options Shepard had explained the child had given her. Then he glanced down at the woman he loved and he felt a surge of pride as she pushed herself upright, standing away from him. "No. I will not choose. I will defeat you. We will all defeat you, and your Reapers," her voice grew louder, stronger as her friends stood beside her. "And before any other giant, world ending ass hole decides they want to have a go at our galaxy maybe they'll think twice! They'll see that we defeated you and they will know: THIS GALAXY IS DEFENDED!" she aimed her pistol and fired.

The child flickered and a furious voice, like that of the Reapers boomed, "SO BE IT" and the child vanished.

"Shepard!" Garrus rushed forward as she collapsed. He caught her easily and lowered her gently to the ground, ignoring the pain surging through his leg. The others gathered, kneeling in a circle around Shepard's prone form, cradled in Garru's arms. Tali went back to work, applying medigel and trying to get Shepard's bleeding under control. In a few moments Liara appeared. Apparently the AI stopped fighting her and she was able to ride up and meet them. She joined the circle.

"It's alright, Lorelei," Garrus said softly, holding her so gently it was as though he thought she might break. "We've got you. Whatever happens now, we've got you." She reached up and touched his face. Her eyes, though full of pain, still showed that love he knew so well. That look that she reserved only for him.

Outside the Citadel the battle raged. A bold squadron of volus bombers was moving into position for a run against a Reaper. The geth provided cover as the quarian live ships moved in with their heavy guns. Below, on earth, the rachni were at work, ripping through hoards of the enemy, allowing the humans, krogan, turians and asari to clean up the rest. The salarian STG was working in tandem with asari biotics. Protected by biotic fields the salarians were able to emply advanced hacking techniques to take down larger foes. The elcor living tanks stood at the rear, firing over the heads of their allies. Still the Reapers kept coming, kept fighting.

In the room at the top of the Ciatdel all was quiet. Almost peaceful. Grunt reached out and laid a hand gently on Shepard's shoulder. Joker too lay his hand on her knee. Liara and EDI took each of Shepard's hands, and Tali pressed a bandage firmly to the worst of Shepard's wounds.

Together. Friends and family born of love. They all reached towards the one who had brought them together as around them the battle raged on. In the middle of the chaos a moment of peace that spoke of everything they fought for. Species together, standing for freedom.

**Author Note 2.0. As you can see I left the ending open. Do they all die? Do the armies that Shepard has gathered kick some Reaper ass and win (what I choose to beleieve)? Does Shepard die in her friends' arms? You get to decide what is cannon for you! Let me know what you thought!


End file.
